World Snooker Championship 2020: Barry Hawkins through, Stephen Maguire out
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Published
Betfred World Championship |
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Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 31 July-16 August |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. Full details and times. |
World number 15 Barry Hawkins made light work of Swiss debutant Alexander Ursenbacher with a 10-2 first-round victory at the World Championship.
Englishman Hawkins has one of the best recent records at the Crucible, reaching the final in 2013 and making four further semi-final appearances.
He held a 7-2 overnight lead and had no trouble completing the win to set up a meeting with Neil Robertson.
World number 60 Martin Gould hammered Scotland's Stephen Maguire 10-3.
Englishman Gould, 38, said before the tournament he was driven into a "dark place" by abuse on social media and was planning to retire if he did not make it through qualifying.
But he produced a stunning performance with four centuries and five further breaks of 50 or more to oust Tour Championship winner Maguire.
Wednesday saw the start of the second-round matches, with four-time champion John Higgins trailing Kurt Maflin 5-3 after the first session.
Maflin fell 2-0 behind but took four frames in a row, and although Higgins responded with a century, the Norwegian regained a two-frame advantage.
Three-time winner Mark Williams opened up a 5-3 lead over Masters champion Stuart Bingham after the first session.
The first four frames were shared but Welshman Williams took hold with three in a row - including breaks of 97 and 90 - before 2015 champion Bingham made 57 to stay in touch.
The pair resume on Thursday at 14:30 BST.
Hawkins said after his victory: "I felt I was solid enough. There were a few mistakes here and there but I felt good - but Alexander made it quite easy for me.
"I expect I will have to play a lot better against Neil (Robertson), cut out the easy mistakes I made. I need to up my game.
"I am looking forward to playing him just to see were my game is at and how much work I need to put in going forward."